Happy Halloween!!

Well it's been an interesting Halloween holiday this year. A little disjointed because of Hurricane Sandy. Nonetheless, we were festive, we dressed up, the boys went trick or treating and much fun was had.

The day before Hurricane Sandy rolled into town, our community held a Halloween parade and party. We loaded the boys in the wagon and walked the half mile to the parade site.

Jacob was a firefighter. Joaquin was a fighter pilot. Sebi was a police officer. Javier was a fighter pilot. And I was a nurse. So we got to the parade and find out that the community was the parade. There was a marching band and everyone who was dressed up walked along behind the band around the block. People really got a kick out of our family's costumes. The local paper took a picture of Javier and Joaquin because they matched. The boys got a kick out of being "in" the parade. 

A bystander took our photo. After the parade, there was a party inside a large building. The boys had fun with the bouncy houses and we received some freebies. It was a good time, but quickly became too crowded, so we didn't stay long. We headed home and started making preparations for Hurricane Sandy.

So Hurricane Sandy came and went. The boys don't have school this whole week. Javier also does not have to work because there is no power at his university. So Sandy gave us all an unexpected week of family time. It's been great. So today being Halloween, the weather being chilly but clear, we decided to let the boys do a little trick or treating. Sebi and Jacob wore the same costumes, but Joaquin decided he wanted to wear something different. He dressed as a knight in shining armor. 

The big boys walked and Sebi rode in the wagon. It took a few tries for Sebi to understand the concept of walking up to a stranger, holding out his bucket, and waiting for said stranger to drop candy into said bucket. By watching his brothers and with a little help from me, he got the gist and was trick or treating like a pro.

The big boys had a great time. This was the first year they really looked forward to it. They have been asking to go trick or treating for over a week. I was very proud of them when they demonstrated good manners by saying "thank you" and "happy halloween" after they received candy. 

Taking our sons trick or treating brought back childhood memories of my own trick or treating adventures. I'm so happy that we can share these wonderful and fun memories with our sons. My heart goes out to the thousands of families who are suffering from the aftermath of Sandy. We are so fortunate to have been spared and we are so grateful for all that we have. 

Happy Halloween everyone.

~Latrice

Hurricane Sandy

On Oct 29, 2012 we started bracing for impact from Hurricane Sandy. We had been watching her approach for days on the weather channel. Some areas were ordered to evacuate, but not our particular community. We made sure we had supplies in case the power went out. We brought up essential items from the basement in case we became flooded. Then it became a waiting game.

This is what our view looked like before Sandy...

And then she started releasing her fury...

For the most part, the boys enjoyed the storm. They thought the wind and waves were cool. We would all go out on the deck and watch the action. But as the storm grew stronger and more ominous, the boys started to realize that something was wrong. They referred to the storm as "spooky", and they were right. As the hours passed, the wind and waves grew stronger. We started to see some water splash up on our lawn...

All we could do was wait and watch...

After high tide, we were hoping the low tide would provide some relief, but the storm was too strong and the waves just kept getting bigger into the evening hours. The lights flickered every once in a while, so we made sure to have our flashlights and candles handy. Thousands of people in the Bronx lost power, but we did not. It really made the difference in weathering this storm in comfort versus fear and anxiety. The boys were able to have lights and watch tv and play their regular games. We cooked supper and all felt normal except for the chaos going on outside.

We even had a boat almost make an entry onto our lawn, but the ocean broke it and it washed down the coast a bit.

We stayed up for most of the night. Watching to see if the water would make its way into the basement level of our house. Waiting to see if any of our windows would be blown in. Waiting to see if the roof would be blown off. But as the hours passed, the winds lost some of their ferocity and the waves started to recede....we went to bed, not knowing what we would wake up to, but figuring that it wasn't going to get worse.

So we woke up and assessed the damage. We were very lucky. We had no personal property loss or damage. So many of our neighbors had it much worse.

The waves did cause major erosion of our yard on the coastal end. About 8 feet of our lawn was swept out to sea. I'm not sure who, how, or when this will get fixed, but if this is all we have to show for Hurricane Sandy, I can't complain.

We are very lucky we didn't have more severe damage. Watching the power of nature up close and personal is very humbling. I hope we don't witness another storm of this magnitude for the duration of our stay here in New York.